We love her adorable purses and clutches :)
Friday, December 6, 2013
Made in Far North Dallas-K8Made
Congrats to another Etsy Dallas member, Kate of K8Made! Check out her Far North Dallas Advocate article here!
We love her adorable purses and clutches :)
We love her adorable purses and clutches :)
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Candle Burning Tips
Woo! It got cold this past weekend here in Dallas! Time to bundle up with some blankets and relax at home with your favorite holiday candle burning to fill your home with yummy smells.
So we thought it would be a good time to post some candle tips to help you burn your candles safely and help you get the most burn time out of them.
A little science lesson first though...Just exactly how does a candle work? Understanding this process is important for candle makers but will also help you understand how to use and enjoy candles more :)
The wax in a candle serves as the fuel for the flame and is absorbed into the wick through capillary action. Too much melted wax and you can drown out your flame, not enough and you will starve the flame of fuel to continue burning. This brings us to our first candle burning issue, inadequate burn time.
A common problem we see with candles is inadequate burn time. A candle needs to burn approx one hour for every inch in diameter. When candles are not burned long enough to create an even wax pool, it will not allow all the wax to melt in future burns, and will leave a wall of wax around the wick. It is important that every time you burn your candle, you allow it to burn long enough to melt all the way across to prevent it from tunneling down. Sometimes when a candle tunnels down too far, there is too much melted wax and your candle will eventually drown itself out. When you don't have enough time to burn a candle for a few hours, consider burning a tealight or votive.
Example of uneven melting:
Proper candle melt pool:
Another cause of uneven melting is placing your candle in drafty areas. Not only will this cause uneven melting, but it may cause wax to splash out of the container or the wick to smoke.
In addition to that, another way to keep wick smoke to an absolute minimum it to keep the wick trimmed to 1/4" before burning your candle. A flame that is too big may melt too much wax for the candle to burn and may drown itself out. Don't cut it too short though or your flame will not be big enough to melt the wax!
What can you do if one of your candles starts to tunnel? Take a knife or spoon and scrape out the excess wax that has formed a wall around the wick. This will help allow your candle to burn properly, provided you allow it the correct amount of burn time in the future.
When you want to extinguish your candle use a dipper or snuffer to put it out. This will create less smoke and soot. If you don't plan to burn a candle for a while, store them in a cool dry place to preserve the fragrance.
One last tip-Never, ever leave a burning candle unattended! Regardless if you have kids or pets-it is never safe!
So we thought it would be a good time to post some candle tips to help you burn your candles safely and help you get the most burn time out of them.
A little science lesson first though...Just exactly how does a candle work? Understanding this process is important for candle makers but will also help you understand how to use and enjoy candles more :)
The wax in a candle serves as the fuel for the flame and is absorbed into the wick through capillary action. Too much melted wax and you can drown out your flame, not enough and you will starve the flame of fuel to continue burning. This brings us to our first candle burning issue, inadequate burn time.
A common problem we see with candles is inadequate burn time. A candle needs to burn approx one hour for every inch in diameter. When candles are not burned long enough to create an even wax pool, it will not allow all the wax to melt in future burns, and will leave a wall of wax around the wick. It is important that every time you burn your candle, you allow it to burn long enough to melt all the way across to prevent it from tunneling down. Sometimes when a candle tunnels down too far, there is too much melted wax and your candle will eventually drown itself out. When you don't have enough time to burn a candle for a few hours, consider burning a tealight or votive.
Example of uneven melting:
Proper candle melt pool:
Another cause of uneven melting is placing your candle in drafty areas. Not only will this cause uneven melting, but it may cause wax to splash out of the container or the wick to smoke.
In addition to that, another way to keep wick smoke to an absolute minimum it to keep the wick trimmed to 1/4" before burning your candle. A flame that is too big may melt too much wax for the candle to burn and may drown itself out. Don't cut it too short though or your flame will not be big enough to melt the wax!
What can you do if one of your candles starts to tunnel? Take a knife or spoon and scrape out the excess wax that has formed a wall around the wick. This will help allow your candle to burn properly, provided you allow it the correct amount of burn time in the future.
When you want to extinguish your candle use a dipper or snuffer to put it out. This will create less smoke and soot. If you don't plan to burn a candle for a while, store them in a cool dry place to preserve the fragrance.
One last tip-Never, ever leave a burning candle unattended! Regardless if you have kids or pets-it is never safe!
Thursday, November 21, 2013
Made in Far North Dallas-Regal Cottage
Monday, November 18, 2013
How to Make a Chalkboard Drawing
All over Etsy, Pinterest, Craft Gawker and other crafty DIY websites you can find super cute pictures chalkboard walls and drawings...How do they make them look so perfect? Well, it is possible that they are super talented artists-it's also possible they used this easy trick.
Let's face it...fonts and lettering are hard to draw perfectly, and chalk is not the most exacting of mediums...So leave that work to someone else. You can find tons printable drawings and quotes online, the one I used for this tutorial is from Etsy shop Lady Lee and Drew Jones. You can also make your own printable quotes-just open up MS Word or Photoshop and type it out, you can find cool free fonts at dafont.com.
Once you find what you are looking for, print it out in the appropriate size. The one I downloaded was too small (and I also don't have a working printer at home right now) so I blew it up in Photoshop and sketched it out.
Next, turn your image over and rub chalk all over the back so it covers all of the printed image on the other side.
Now you're ready to trace. Use something with a wide enough tip that it will transfer the chalk clearly to your wal l(but not too big that smaller text looks blurry). My image was pretty large so I used a pencil eraser-I also liked it because it was soft and wouldn't leave indention in my wall.
Once you're done with that you can pull your printed image off the wall and you should be left with a good transfer of the image on your wall. Fill in any gaps in the drawing by hand, and clean up any smudges or unclean lines with a q-tip.
I have always liked this quote, and while it is fitting for most occasions, I think it is especially so during this time of year. With all the go go go of the holiday season, remember that you can say NO to the crazy in your life...sometimes it is better to skip that next holiday party and relax with a glass of wine at home :)
Let's face it...fonts and lettering are hard to draw perfectly, and chalk is not the most exacting of mediums...So leave that work to someone else. You can find tons printable drawings and quotes online, the one I used for this tutorial is from Etsy shop Lady Lee and Drew Jones. You can also make your own printable quotes-just open up MS Word or Photoshop and type it out, you can find cool free fonts at dafont.com.
Once you find what you are looking for, print it out in the appropriate size. The one I downloaded was too small (and I also don't have a working printer at home right now) so I blew it up in Photoshop and sketched it out.
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Once the back is covered in chalk, tape your image onto the wall and make sure it is level. Use painters tape if you have it to protect your walls.
I have always liked this quote, and while it is fitting for most occasions, I think it is especially so during this time of year. With all the go go go of the holiday season, remember that you can say NO to the crazy in your life...sometimes it is better to skip that next holiday party and relax with a glass of wine at home :)
Friday, November 15, 2013
Made in Far North Dallas!
Wow, we are super excited that the Dallas Advocate (for Far North Dallas) featured us in their holiday shopping guide! Check out the article here
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We had to do a crazy quick cleaning spree for the photographer to get this pic because we were in full on holiday production mode! You can see all of our fragrance and essential oils in the background as well as some "test" octopi soaps in the foreground :)
Woodland Creatures
My last post featured foxy finds from Jingle Bash artists...today I think I'll add a few more woodland creatures to the mix :)
Don't forget the Jingle Bash is Saturday, Nov 23 from 11-6pm!
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| Owl Skirt by Freckled Chicken www.etsy.com/shop/FreckledChicken |
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| Baby Toy Ball with Rattle by Regal Cottage www.etsy.com/shop/RegalCottage |
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| Sasquatch Greeting Card by Refill My Glass www.etsy.com/shop/refillmyglass |
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| Racoon Plushie by Regal Cottage www.etsy.com/shop/RegalCottage |
Thursday, November 14, 2013
Sly Like a Fox - Jingle Bash
Wowza! The Jingle Bash is quickly coming up! We have lots of great artists this year and hope to see you all there!
Today I've rounded up some of my favorite foxy items from shops that you will see at the Bash.
Today I've rounded up some of my favorite foxy items from shops that you will see at the Bash.
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| Fox Watercolor painting by Anna Tovar www.etsy.com/shop/annatovar |
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| Foxy Fox T-Shirt by Dowdy Studio (I bought this shirt and can assure you it is super soft and comfy!) www.etsy.com/shop/DowdyStudio |
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| Fox Lunch Bag by Dozy Dotes Totes www.etsy.com/shop/dozydoatstotes |
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| Fox Bookend by Ray Lynn Woodshop www.etsy.com/shop/RayLynnWoodShop |
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